On December 29, 2025 – South Korean e-commerce giant Coupang Inc. announced on Monday, December 28, that it would compensate 33.7 million customers affected by a massive data breach, with a total amount of 1.69 trillion Korean won (approximately 11.7 billion USD).
In a statement released on Monday by South Korea’s largest online retailer, the company stated that under the compensation plan, they would provide each affected customer with a 50,000 won discount and voucher, usable for various services under Coupang, including compensated “Coupang Wow” members, regular customers, and former customers who have closed their accounts.
The company added that the compensation funds would begin to be distributed gradually starting from January 15th of next year.
Coupang’s interim CEO Harold Rogers stated in the announcement, “Coupang will use this incident as a turning point, wholeheartedly adhere to the customer-centered principle, fulfill responsibilities to the end, and transform into a trustworthy company for customers.”
A day before the compensation plan was introduced, Coupang’s founder Kim Bom-suk publicly apologized for the first time.
Last week, Coupang announced that they had identified a former employee as the one responsible for the data breach through evidence, recovered the devices used in the hacking attack, and obtained statements from suspects.
On November 29th, Coupang confirmed that personal information from 33.7 million customer accounts was compromised, far exceeding the initial report of 4,500 accounts submitted to authorities on November 20th.
Subsequently, the government initiated an investigation that affected the lives of millions of South Koreans, involving nearly two-thirds of the country’s population.
The data breach incident came to light on November 18th, leading to the resignation of Coupang’s CEO Park Dae-jun in early December.